A Flock of Cranes
by Magnus-Bane-1994
Summary: The good doctor himself offers to share his home with his cousin, Leona Crane. What happens when Leona befriends the Batman, and who is Kitty?
1. Chapter 1

Doctor Jonathan Crane was about to flip the last light switch and be on his way when the phone on his desk rang. He sighed and set his briefcase down before picking up the phone. "Hello, Crane Psychology. Doctor Crane speaking." The voice that answered was familiar but sounded scared.

"Jonathan? It's Leona, I need your help." She said in a whisper. Her voice shook and for once his heart went out to another being other than himself.

"Leona," he said, taking a seat on the corner of his desk. "Haven't heard from you in a while. What seems to be the problem?"

"I just got evicted and I'm having some trouble finding a job." She said in a rush.

"So what can I do to help?" he asked calmly.

"I need a place to stay for a while." She told him. "At least until I can get back on my feet, do you think you can help?" In the background Jonathan could hear shouts.

"You better not be talking to another fucking man, bitch! I'll beat the shit out of you!" _**Quite a charmer you've got there, cousin **_he thought to himself.

"Anything else you care to add?" he asked in his well-practiced psychologist voice. She sighed and continued on in a hushed tone.

"Not now. Listen, you know where I live. Can you come get me?" she asked. "Brian won't let me use the car." She offered in explanation.

"All the way in Blüdhaven?" he asked, referring to his watch for the time. "That's pretty far, but I guess I can manage. We'll talk in the car." She thanked him profusely and they bade each other goodbye. Jonathan placed the phone back on the cradle and picked up his briefcase once more, heading for the door. In the parking lot he noticed a cop car sitting in the darkest corner possible. Well he had nothing to be guilty of tonight, _**sorry boys, nothing from the Scarecrow this time**_.

About 20 minutes later he pulled up in front of a brick art deco apartment building. This was the place. Stepping out of the car he looked around. It seemed to be a nice enough place. Once up the stairs he rang the doorbell and the door was promptly answered by a tall man with a wiry frame. He smiled politely, and assuming that this was Brian, let him have a small dose of fear toxin. "What the hell?" he called, backing away as if Jonathan were the most horrific thing he had seen in his life.

"Jonathan!" came a voice from farther inside. "You're earlier than I expected." She said, stepping around Brian in his frightened state. "Here, could you hold this?" she asked, holding out a small suit case.

"Of course." He said, taking it from her and leading her out to the car. She followed him out and slid into the passenger seat, warming her hands by the vents. Jonathan placed her suit case in the back seat and got back in, putting the car in drive.

"So…who was that charmer at the door?" he asked. She sighed and placed her hands in her lap.

"Oh, that was Brian." She answered quietly. He noticed her toying with her gloves.

"The one that said he's beat the shit out of you?" he asked, trying to lighten things up a bit.

"No," she answered sarcastically, "the other one."

You know, sarcasm hurts cousin. Anyway, do you want to talk about it?" he asked, trying to be as cousin-like as possible while maintaining a professional front.

"I wouldn't know where to start." She answered.

"You know I do this for a living right?" he asked. She nodded. "So just talk, I'll listen, that's my job."

"It started when I got laid off of work."

"Where did you work again?" he asked, showing interest in the story.

"I was a secretary at Wayne Enterprises. I worked in the Blüdhaven branch." She answered.

"I didn't realize Wayne Enterprises took a blow." He said, his interest peaking.

"Oh yeah, Blüdhaven branches are falling under real fast. Now I'm having a hard time finding a job. And on top of that my rent's been behind."

"Well I did just lose a secretary, think you're up for it?" he asked, offering her the post of his personal secretary.

"Really? Jonathan, you don't have to do that just for me."

"I just did Leona. Now, tell me more. Brian seems…interesting." He said, dancing around the obvious.

"You could say that. He gets very territorial. I…well I left him while you were on your way. He's just so hard to deal with sometimes."

"And why's that?" he asked, concern slipping into his voice.

"Let's just say he's an angry person." She replied as they pulled up in front of a tall thin house. Leona looked out her window in awe. "It's so tall."

"It has five stories, there's at least one room per floor." He answered, killing the ignition and getting out of the car. He smiled over at her and walked up to the door. "It's nice to have someone else to appreciate it." Together they walked through the foyer to the kitchen where the stairs were. Up on the second floor was the living room, the third floor contained a guest room and a bathroom while the fourth floor held a small office. The fifth floor was where the master suite was, a huge master bedroom sat next to a large bathroom.

"You'll be staying in the guest room two floors down, so you'll have plenty of space for yourself. Laundry is in the closet next to the office; treat this place like your new home." He told her. She smiled and nodded, going back down the stairs to the guest room. The room was painted a shimmering burnt gold with deep red trims. The sheets and blankets were a beautiful chocolate brown and the bedframe along with the dresser were deep mahogany.

"How do you like it?" Jonathan asked from the doorway. She grinned and hugged him, catching him off guard.

"It's lovely Jonathan, thank you so much." She said lightly.

"Oh it's my pleasure Leona." He said, smiling softly. "You start tomorrow, get a good night's rest." He told her, and left. She could hear him walking up the stairs and into the room above her, she wondered if he worked this hard all the time. Slowly she opened her suitcase and placed her clothes in the drawers, hanging the jackets in the closet. She yawned and looked at the alarm clock; it was 9:45 at night. It was a force of habit for her to wake up at 5:30 every morning so she set the alarm and lay down, falling into a deep sleep.

One floor above her Jonathan was pacing in his office. The Scarecrow would have to wait he decided. Carefully he placed the lock around the mask as always, but took extra care to lock the box it went in _and_ the bottom drawer. He didn't want to take any risks.

The next morning Leona woke up to the sounds of radio hosts chattering in her ear. She groaned but sat up and swung her feet over the edge of the bed. She stretched and slipped her feet into a pair of slippers before pulling on her bathrobe. She let the radio play on for a few minutes before turning it off and shuffling down to the kitchen to make coffee. When she saw Jonathan sitting at the island in pajama pants she stopped. He had already made coffee and had a mug sitting next to him on the counter, his head was in his hands and his glasses were on the counter in front of him. A paper was sprawled carelessly around, "THE SCARECROW STRIKES FEAR ONCE AGAIN: WILL BATMAN RISE TO THE CHALLENGE?" Popped out at her.

"What's this?" she asked softly, ruffling his hair and pointing to the headline. He looked up and folded the paper into neat quarters, placing his glasses back on his face.

"Nothing, just Gotham news." He answered.

"Well who's this Scarecrow character?" she asked, pouring herself a mug of coffee and adding milk and sugar.

"Nobody knows who it is, it's always that way around here." He told her, getting up and making his way to the foot of the stairs. She sighed and sat down in his vacated seat. "You better get a move on Leo, work starts in an hour." And with that he disappeared up the stairs. Leona decided it was probably best if she looked presentable on her first day, so she got up and went to her bedroom.

A shower was first on her list of things to do so she took her bathroom things and went into the bathroom. As she turned on the hot water she stepped out of her bathrobe and hung it on the towel rack, slipped off her slippers and undresses. Testing the water to make sure it wasn't too hot, she stepped into the relaxing spray and took about a half hour in the shower. After her shower she went to her closet to find a nice shirt to wear. She found a lavender button down cap sleeve that she paired with a black pencil skirt. To finish it all off she picked up her only pair of black heels and made her way down the stairs, pulling her hair into a high ponytail on her way down.

She couldn't say she expected it, but Jonathan was already back in the kitchen in a neat grey suit and a red tie. "You look spiffy Jon." She said, sitting and putting on her shoes.

"The same can be said for you." He answered, picking up his keys and making his way to the front door. "Now your job entails answering my calls," he tossed a wireless Bluetooth set at her which she caught "reminding me of appointments, filing patient information, scheduling appointments, checking my email and updating our patient files on the computer." He told her. "You will be seated at your desk in front of my office unless I am out, then you will be with me using your tablet to do what I ask of you."

"Sounds good to me." She said, taking the tablet that he was holding out for her.

"The password is CranePsych, your username is LeoCrane." He said, getting in the car and turning it on. Leona got in the passenger seat and they were on their way.

"So pretty much any secretary job." She clarified. He nodded and kept his eyes on the road.

"Except you are my personal secretary, not just any office secretary." He said. The rest of the ride was silent, but not awkward. As they pulled into the parking lot of Crane Psychology Center Leona looked out the window.

"Is this where you keep your long term patients?" she asked as she got out of the car.

"Not at all. We keep the inmates down at Arkham Asylum." He told her, leading the way into the building.

"Good morning Doctor Crane." said a pretty blonde from behind a low counter.

"Good morning Juliette, this is Leona, she'll be joining us as my new personal secretary. Leona this is the face of Crane Psychology Center, Juliette." Leona smiled and waved as Jonathan led her past the desk and into a back hallway. "My office is all the way at the end; your desk is behind the small counter there right in front of it. These are our individual therapy rooms, I have about six psychologists working for me and they each have a specialty and their own room."

"Alright, but what should I call you while I'm on the clock?" she asked.

"Well Doctor Crane, of course. I know it may be a little strange at first, but I promise you'll get used to it." He said, leaving her at her desk and closing the door to the office behind him. She sat at her desk and clicked the mouse, a pop up window was present with a cursor blinking in the USERNAME box.

"LeoCrane, tab, CranePsych, enter." She muttered to herself as she typed. The box was replaced with loading icons and she took this time to plug in her tablet and turn on her headset. All around her were filing cabinets, each drawer labeled a different letter. Before long the phone rang and she pressed the answer button.

"Crane Psychology Center, Leona speaking, how can I help you?" she said into the headset.

"I'd like to schedule an appointment with Doctor Crane please." Came a voice from the other end. She pulled up Jonathan's calendar and skimmed through it.

"Doctor Crane is open this afternoon at 3:30, tomorrow morning at 8 and 10, tomorrow night at 7:45 and the next day at 11. What can I put you in for?"

"This afternoon is fine."

"Okay, and are you a prior patient here at Crane Psychology?" she asked.

"Yes, yes in fact I am."


	2. Chapter 2

"Can I have your name please?" Leona asked, clicking away on her computer.

"Jervis Tetch." The voice answered.

"Thank you sir, I'll let the doctor know about your appointment." She told him, and hung up the phone. As efficiently as she could she filled out the calendar slot and rang up Jonathan's office.

"What is it Leona?" he asked.

"You have an appointment scheduled for 3:30 this afternoon with Jervis Tetch." She told him.

"Ah, thank you. I was wondering when he was going to come see me. Oh and…well, never mind, you're not blonde so you're fine." He said, leaving her confused. She wanted to ask questions, but all that escaped her lips was a weak "Yes Doctor Crane."

"Now, I have another appointment in about ten minutes, her name is Jill Thompson, she'll be coming in with her mother. Just send them right in when they get here."

"Yes sir. Anything else?" she asked.

"Yes, I have to leave after I see Mr. Tetch, could you lock up for me if I give you the key?"

"Yes I can. Is that all?"

"Seems like it. Thank you Leona." And with that he hung up the phone. Soon two people came walking down the hall. One was a little girl with curly brown hair and the other was a tall woman holding her hand.

"Hi, we're here to see Doctor Crane. Jill Thompson is the name."

"Yes, go right in, he's expecting you." Leona said with a wave towards the office door. The two went past the desk into the office where they were met by Doctor Crane sitting lightly on the corner of his desk. He smiled and pushed out a chair with his foot.

"Hello Jill, please, sit down. I have some plans to talk over with your mom before I ask her to leave, is that alright?" he asked the shy girl. She nodded. "Good, so I've been finding small hints of some long term mental illnesses. I was hoping you would say that I could take her to the asylum for further treatment? We do have a specialized children's wing that she would feel perfectly at home with."

"Well isn't there a way to treat her at home?" asked Jill's mother.

"The treatments that I would need to administer are only available under the strict scrutiny of health networking. In short, I can only give her what she needs if she's on the Asylum grounds." He told her. She turned to Jill and crouched down next to her chair.

"Sweetie, Doctor Crane wants to know if you want to take a vacation. You can go live in a new house with some new friends and Doctor Crane will make you get better while you're there."

"Will you come visit me mommy?" asked Jill in a small voice.

"Every day sweetie, every day."

"Then I guess I can go, if Doctor Crane thinks it'll make me better." Jonathan smiled and nodded at the small girl.

"It's settled then, Mrs. Thompson, my secretary can provide you with residency papers for the asylum while you wait for Jill and me to be done here." He said. Mrs. Thompson nodded and left the office, shutting the door behind her.

"Hello, Dr. Crane said you could provide me with residency papers for the asylum." She said to Leona. Leona nodded and rifled around in a drawer before pulling out a sheaf of papers and handing them over to the woman. "Thank you." She said with a smile.

Back in the office Jonathan was kneeling down to the Jill's level. "Now, how was your week Jill?" he asked. Jill raised her shining blue eyes to meet his and whispered.

"Well, daddy's gone. That means things are better. Right?" Crane smiled.

"Yes, yes it does. So, let's talk about school today. Do you have any friends?" he asked softly. Jill nodded, sending her pigtails flying around her head. "That's good. What are you learning about?"

"Well yesterday we learned about adding numbers and I counted up to 30." She answered excitedly. He chuckled at the small girls' enthusiasm.

"That's good. How about any favorite subjects?" he asked, trying to open her up to talking to him.

"I like music, and I like computers and gym and reading." Jill said with finality.

"And how about your teacher?" he asked.

"Mrs. Williams is nice. She makes learning fun." She told him.

"That's good, so how are things at home then? Everything going alright?" the girl seemed to shrink into her seat at the mention of things at home. Jonathan sighed and stood up, walking to his desk and picking up a tablet with an attached pen. "Jill you're going to have to talk to me before we take you to your new home. Mom will bring you, but I need to tell them what's going on with you so they know exactly how to treat you." He told her. "Now, how about you tell me how things are at home."

"Everything is better since daddy left. Mommy was happy when he went away, I was too."

"Does mom treat you like dad did?"

"Nope, mommy loves me; sometimes grandma says she spoils me rotten." The girl told him with confidence. "You won't tell mommy I said that, will you?" she asked anxiously.

"Technically, I'm not allowed to unless you say I can." The girl brightened up at the idea of the confidentiality policy held up by Crane Psychology.

"Doctor Crane, your next appointment is here." Leona said over the speaker.

"I'll be out in just one moment." He said and turned his attention back to Jill. "Now Jill, mommy is going to bring you to your new home tomorrow, I promise you'll love it. And I won't tell your mom what you said, it'll be our little secret, deal?" he asked, holding out his pinky in a childish gesture of trust.

"Deal." Jill said and linked her pinky with his, giving it a squeeze before letting go and running out the door. He stood up and followed her out, being stopped by a familiar face.

"Hello Jervis, come on in." he said, stepping aside to allow the other man into the office.

"Such a good looking secretary you have there Jon." Jervis said, taking a seat in one of the office chairs. Jonathan took a seat behind the desk and pulled out his notes from their last session.

"Thank you, I do try to keep up appearances around here." He replied as he scanned the notes.

"I'll bet she looks real nice in one of my hats." Jervis said, leaning in so Jonathan could hear him clearly.

"So last time you were here it was on a court order as required by your parole guidelines. What brought you back?" Jonathan asked, ignoring the hat comment.

"Well you see Jon, that little drug of yours messed up some people real bad, you know? And, uh, well I know I'm not exactly among the sanest in Gotham. Let's just leave it there shall we?"

"I see. So what you're saying is that you came back of your own free will, with no underlying motives. Is that correct?"

"_He _is onto us, Jonathan. The Batman, he knows who half of the criminals of Gotham are whether they know it or not."

"Is that the only reason you came back?" Jonathan asked, raising an eyebrow at Jervis. He nodded shortly. "Then you can leave my office because I already knew what you have told me, therefore you have no purpose here. Thank you very much, have a wonderful evening." He said, ushering Jervis out of the office and leaning on the doorjamb once he was out of sight.

"Leo, I'm going home. The key is in my top right drawer. Start locking up at around 4:45." He told Leona, rubbing his eyes with his glasses resting on his knuckles.

"Yes sir."

"I'll leave you money for the train. Take the train out to West Victoria street and take a left out of the station, you'll see the house soon enough."

"Thank you. Anything else I can do for you?"

"Yes."

"What is it?" she asked.

"Never give that man an appointment again. He bothers me to no end." He said, tossing a ten down on her desk and walking out of the building, throwing a hasty goodbye to Juliette on his way out.


	3. Chapter 3

4:45 hit and Leona went around shutting off lights in all the rooms and locking all the doors. The last light off was the front lobby light and she left that one on as long as she could before leaving the building dark and locked solid. Half way across the parking lot she saw two dark figures moving towards her and she reached into her purse before realizing that she had left her pepper spray in her suitcase.

"Unlock the building, bitch." One called as they drew level with her. The other grabbed her wrist and forced it behind her back. She spit on the man's shoe and looked him in the eye.

"No way." She said. The first man slapped her across the cheek and she crushed her heel down on his foot before twisting away from the other one and running. They caught up to her and dragged her to the building, pinning her against the wall.

"Open the damn door." She resisted again but their holds had become stronger, leaving her no room to maneuver.

"I said no." she replied firmly.

"Bitch thinks she's tough." The first man said to the second one. Together they laughed until they could all hear a swooshing noise above them. Leona looked up in time to see the corner of a black piece of cloth disappear over the roof ledge. The would-be muggers let her go and backed away slowly, keeping their eyes trained on the edge of the roof. But before they could turn to run a black shadow dropped down in front of them.

"You shouldn't be talking to a lady like that boys." He said in a gruff voice. The muggers turned with a comical look of horror on their faces.

"B-b-b-batman. We're sorry, look we won't do it again we swear, please don't throw us in the slammer." The first one stuttered and the second one stood stock still as their situation hit him.

"You're lucky that you're just a bunch of kids, don't let me see you around here again, you hear me?" he said in a menacing tone. The boys nodded and turned tail to run home while the Batman turned to look at Leona. "Are you alright miss?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Hey, thanks for that." She said. He nodded and leapt back to the top of the building. When he had gone from her sight she turned to find the train.

*later that night*

"Jonathan? I'm home." Leona called as she kicked off her shoes and walked through the foyer to the kitchen.

"In here." He called back. As she entered the kitchen he turned from the stove and stopped short. "Oh my god, are you okay Leo?"

"Well, yeah why wouldn't I be?" she asked, confusion coloring her voice.

"Your cheek is bruising. What happened to you?"

"Oh, that." She said, looking down at her feet. "Just some wannabe mugger punks." She told him, sitting at the kitchen island.

"Well, be careful around town. You never know who or what you'll run into."

"Like the batman?" she asked as he placed a plate of steaming food in front of her. He paused and turned back to the stove.

"Yeah, like the batman." He answered.

"Tell me something Jon." Leona said and Jonathan turned toward her, placing his elbows on the counter.

"Yes, dear cousin?" he asked with a sigh.

"Why are you so against the batman?" she asked.

"Well for starters, the man that dresses up in a bat costume and jumps around on rooftops at night is obviously quite insane. Besides, he's probably just as crazy as the criminals he throws in jail." He answered, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

"But he does it for the city and the people. He does it to keep us all safe." She argued. "I'll bet this has to do with your fear of bats."

"I am not afraid of bats, Leo." He said, impatience creeping into his voice. "I simply do not like them. They are vile creatures."

"There's a bat in the corner." She said in response, calm and collected. Jonathan jumped and spun around to face the corner. "I told you." She said smugly. He turned back and glared at her.

"You've proved your point. But that has nothing to do with why I dislike him." Jonathan said, replacing his glasses and running a slim hand through his hair. "Don't you think that a man who dresses up as a bat and goes around beating up criminals sounds a little crazy?"

"Okay, maybe you're right, that does sound a little crazy." She admits before picking up her fork and pushing her food around her plate. "But he's cleaned up the city, at least from what I've heard."

"While that is true, he has also put many family men in danger by putting the idea in their heads that they can do their share by helping the Batman." Jonathan answered. Leona let out her breath in a huff and stabbed her fork into her food with fervor.

"Why do you make so much sense, Jon?"


End file.
